Our Universe: An Astronomer’s Guide

Science journalist Dunkley offers a fascinating, accessible introduction to the universe, covering topics ranging from the Big Bang and the “cosmic dawn” of the first stars to the ongoing search for exoplanets and for dark matter and energy. Dunkley begins close to home, with the Earth and Moon, before moving outward from the solar system to the Milky Way, to the edge of the known universe. Along the way, she explains how stars fuse atoms to create energy, and how white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes form. The topic of black holes introduces a discussion of how scientists can search for—and find—things humans cannot see, by observing how their gravity affects the light around them. Similarly, a précis on Einstein’s theory of general relativity leads into how the universe began and evolved into an ever-expanding, varied space, and not simply a “monotonously regular sea of atoms and dark matter.” In a cosmos-spanning work that also offers a tantalizing glimpse of the possibility of realities beyond this one, Dunkley gives readers a commanding view onto the universe and the wonders to be found in it. (Apr.)